The mascot of the Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, was initially created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. On the 27th of October 1957, Walt Disney credited his success to the mouse, “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.”
Mickey Turns Ninety!
On the 13th of January, 1930, the first-ever Mickey Mouse comic strip was printed in The New York Daily Mirror. Yup, Mickey mouse has been around for 90 long years. Dreaming of becoming a great pilot, Mickey was building a plane. He then took his girlfriend on his first flight. But obviously, there were multiple obstacles as his girlfriend got in trouble, and a storm approached. Consequently, he landed on a desert island, where natives decided to cook him alive. In the end, Mickey fought his way through everything, single-handedly.
The History Of Mickey Mouse
Even though his first animated movie Steamboat Willie released in 1928, it was the comic strip that led international fame. Probably because of the minimal reach of films. Due to such a massive success in 1930, the demand for merchandise increased at a very high rate. As a result, it became the first significant success for the creator Walt Disney and his company.
Furthermore, by the year 1931, the comic was already published in forty newspapers in the United States and about twenty in other countries.
Soon Mickey Mouse phenomenon was powering everything, including movies, merchandise, and a first-of-its-kind theme park. Disney World opened in Florida in the year 1971. However, by 1983, Mickey Mouse movies felt the necessity to include characters like Donald, Goofy, and Daffy to ensure its power.
1990 marked the permanent shut down of the comic department of Mickey Mouse, and the popularity and sales declined in the United States. However, Mickey is still around, mostly as an element of nostalgia even after 90 years.